Creating Our Future: Results of the National Arts Participation Survey

Western Australia highlights

Creating Our Future: Results of the National Arts Participation Survey is the fourth report in a landmark series by the Australia Council for the Arts, building on the 2009, 2013 and 2016 editions.

The National Arts Participation Survey is a cornerstone of our evidence base. It provides vital new evidence about the essential role that arts and creativity play in Australian communities, showing the arts are a public good infused and embedded in the fabric of our daily lives. 

Creating Our Future evidences Australians’ strong and growing support for public funding, our growing recognition of the central importance of First Nations arts to Australia’s culture, the importance of arts and creativity in child development and education. It also evidences the power of the arts to fuel our talent pipeline and jobs growth, while supporting social cohesion and wellbeing.

The survey was conducted not long before the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted our world, lives and the cultural and creative industries. The survey results provide a benchmark of Australians’ arts engagement before the impacts of the pandemic, providing much needed information as doors reopen, audiences are rebuilt and the cultural and creative industries are re-ignited.

For the full report and online resources see: 
https://www.creative.gov.au/research/creating-our-future

This fact sheet provides an overview of results for Western Australia.

Figure 1: Western Australian residents’ arts engagement in 2019

o	98% engage with the arts
o	33% engage with the arts of their cultural background
o	45% creatively participate
o	82% engage online
o	93% listen to recorded music 
o	71% read books
o	13% are involved with community arts
o	65% attend live
o	39% attend festivals
o	48% attend music
o	20% attend literary events
o	28% attend dance
o	34% attend theatre
o	30% attend First Nations arts
o	36% attend visual arts and craft

Base: 2019 Western Australia (n=1,388)

Impacts of the arts

More Australians now recognise the many positive impacts the arts have on our daily lives and in our communities.

More residents of Western Australia now believe the arts have a ‘big’ or ‘very big’ impact on: 
o	their ability to express themselves (63%, up from 57% in 2016)
o	stimulating their minds (63%, up from 54% in 2016)
o	their ability to think creatively and develop new ideas (62%, up from 54% in 2016)
o	their understanding of other people and cultures (59%, up from 51% in 2016)
o	helping them deal with stress, anxiety or depression (58%, up from 47% in 2016)
o	child development (63%, up from 53% in 2016)
o	shaping and expressing Australian identity (50%, up from 44% in 2016)
o	their sense of wellbeing and happiness (57%, up from 44% in 2016)
o	building creative skills that will be necessary for the future workforce (44%, new in 2019)
o	bringing customers to local businesses (37%, up from 28% in 2016). 

Attitudes about the arts

Following a shift in some attitudes towards ambivalence in 2016 (respondents neither agreeing nor disagreeing with attitude statements), Western Australian residents’ attitudes about the arts are now less ambivalent and increasingly positive.

More residents of Western Australia now agree that:
o	artists should have freedom of expression (76%, up from 63% in 2016)
o	the arts should be an important part of education (75%, up from 60% in 2016)
o	artists make an important contribution to Australian society (73%, up from 63% in 2016)
o	the arts in Australia reflect the diversity of cultures present in Australia (73%, up from 65% in 2016)
o	the arts help to understand perspectives that are different to their own (73%, up from 60% in 2016)
o	the arts make for a richer and more meaningful life (71%, up from 58% in 2016)
o	the arts should receive public funding (63%, up from 49% in 2016)
o	the arts allow them to connect with others (52%, up from 37% in 2016)
o	there are plenty of opportunities for them to get involved in the arts (45%, up from 38% in 2016).

WA residents are also less likely to feel that the arts are not for people like them than Australians overall. The proportion of Western Australian residents who are feeling disconnected from the arts has remained on par with 2016, with just over a quarter agreeing that the arts are not really for people like me (26%).

Investment in arts and creativity

As well as strong and growing support for public funding for the arts in Australia, Australians have clear priorities for investment. The top three priorities for those from Western Australia are: 
o	ensuring children and young people have access to art and creative experiences to support learning and development (75% ranked this in their top three priorities);
o	ensuring free or low-cost events are available (71% ranked this in their top three priorities) and
o	ensuring art and creative experiences are available to support people’s health and wellbeing (55% ranked this in their top three priorities).

The high value that Australians place on the arts is reflected in the time and money they give to support artists, arts organisations and arts projects. In line with national trends, residents of Western Australia are increasingly giving to the arts (23%, up from 20% in 2016), including donating money (10%, up from 7%), unpaid work such as helping artists or community groups with arts activities (9%, up from 6%) and volunteering (8%, up from 6%). 

Cultural identity and diversity 

First Nations arts

More Australians now agree First Nations arts are an important part of Australia’s culture and interest in First Nations arts is growing. Prior to COVID-19, Australians’ appetite for both online and live engagement with the arts was increasing too.

Following national trends, more residents of Western Australia now agree First Nations arts are an important part of Australia’s culture (76%, up from 69% in 2016). However, only half of those from Western Australia believe First Nations arts are well represented (50%, up from 48% in 2016), showing there is still work to be done to build the representation and profile of First Nations arts in Australia.

Both attendance and interest in First Nations arts were strong and growing prior to COVID-19. Three in ten Western Australian residents were attending First Nations arts (30%, up from 26% in 2016) and more than a third were interested in First Nations arts (36%). Among those interested, 39% reported a growing interest.

Cultural diversity 

The arts are a key way that Australians connect with, and share, our cultural backgrounds, identities and heritages. All Australians are enriched and benefit from the tapestry of our people and cultural landscape. 

A third of those from Western Australia connect with, and share, their cultural background through arts and creativity (33%), including by attending arts events (29%).

Half of culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) residents of Western Australia attend arts events focused on their cultural background or community (50%) and nearly eight in ten attend arts events overall (78%), including significant cross-cultural arts engagement and strong engagement with First Nations arts.

Live attendance 

Prior to COVID-19, live attendance at arts events was thriving. Attending arts experiences in person enables Australians to come together as audiences and connect with artists.

Nearly two thirds of Western Australians attend the arts (65%, up from 59% in 2016).

Almost half attend music (48%), around one third attend theatre (34%) and visual arts and craft (36%), 28% attend dance and 20% attend literary events.

39% attend festivals, including music festivals (8%), visual art festivals or fairs (7%), multi-art form festivals (7%) and performing arts festivals (5%). 

Creative participation 

Australia is an increasingly creative nation. More than four in ten residents of Western Australia now create, produce or collaborate in the making of art (45%, up from 33% in 2016). 
o	Three in ten create using a digital platform (30%).
o	Just under a quarter of Western Australian residents create visual arts and craft (23%).
o	14% create music.
o	13% produce creative writing.
o	13% creatively participate in community arts.
o	Just under one in ten creatively participate in dance (8%).
o	5% creatively participate in theatre.

Listening to music recorded music, reading and digital engagement

Listening to recorded music

Recorded music is infused throughout the lives of almost every Australian, providing a soundtrack to our lives and helping us through the day. Over nine in ten all residents of Western Australia listen to recorded music (93%).
o	71% listen to music on radio or tv.
o	Over half stream music online for free (e.g. YouTube) (56%).
o	Nearly four in ten Western Australian residents listen to music they own (either downloaded or a physical copy e.g. CDs/vinyl) (39%).
o	37% stream music through a paid subscription (e.g. Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon Music).

Reading 

Despite busy lives and digital distractions, reading remains a fundamental activity for Australians and provides a lifetime of enjoyment.

In line with national trends, the proportion of Western Australian residents who read for pleasure (71%) has increased (up 12 percentage points from 2016). The most popular types of reading material are novels or short stories (46%), instructional non-fiction such as guidebooks or cookbooks (34%) and creative non-fiction such as biography or history (28%).

Print books remain the most popular format, read by over two thirds of Western Australian residents (69%). Four in ten read e-books (60%) and around a third listen to audiobooks (32%).

Australia is an increasingly creative nation

Digital engagement 

Most residents of Western Australia engage with the arts online (82%, up from 76% in 2016). In the digital age, the arts are more accessible than ever. Listening to streamed music remains the most popular way to engage (68%). 

More than six in ten Western Australian residents use digital platforms to engage with the arts (63%), including YouTube (39%), Facebook (36%), and Instagram (24%). 

Three in ten Western Australian residents express themselves creatively on digital platforms (30%), including through image galleries like Instagram (9%), memes (9%) and music or songs (7%). But from video games to creative blogs, those from Western Australia, like Australians overall, have differing views of which digital creations can be considered art.

Research approach

The 2019 National Arts Participation Survey was conducted from September to November 2019 with the survey sample of 8,928 Australians aged 15 years and over weighted to be nationally representative based on age, gender and location (by states and territories and metropolitan/regional Australia). The survey sample included 1,388 residents of Western Australia.

Evolving with the times, the survey went online in 2019 after being conducted through a mix of telephone and online surveys in 2016. Due to this change, the results that are most comparable for showing trends over time are the results from the surveys conducted online in 2016. Given the changes made to the National Arts Participation Survey, the previously published results in the Connecting Australians report are different to the 2016 data used for trend analysis in the Creating Our Future report.